Veteran country star Mickey Gilley will make two San Antonio-area stops — including one with Johnny Lee — in his North American concert tour celebrating the 35th anniversary of the iconic film “Urban Cowboy.”

Gilley will perform on Friday at Freiheit Country Store in New Braunfels and on Sept. 5 at the 11th Street Cowboy Bar in Bandera with Lee, whose soundtrack single “Lookin’ for Love” became a monster crossover hit and the theme song for the country honky-tonk craze of the 1980s.

Gilley became a household name with his No. 1 single “Stand By Me.” Also on the movie’s soundtrack album was the Grammy-winning “Orange Blossom Special” by Gilley’s Urban Cowboy Band.

The movie starring John Travolta and Debra Winger was based on and filmed at Gilley’s Nightclub in Pasadena, which entered the “Guinness World Records” book as the world’s largest honky-tonk in the mid-1970s at the same time as the singer’s career was taking off with such No. 1 singles as “Room Full of Roses.”

More Information

In concert

Mickey Gilley with Breelan Angel

When: 7 p.m. Friday

Where: Freiheit Country Store, 2157 FM 1101, New Braunfels

Tickets: $20-$125, 830-625-9400; freiheitcountrystore.net

Mickey Gilley with Johnny Lee & The Urban Cowboy Band

When: 7 p.m. Sept. 5

Where: 11th Street Cowboy Bar, 307 11th St., Bandera

Tickets: $40

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The famed club featured mechanical bulls, a rodeo arena, punching bags, a shooting gallery, pool tables and a dance floor that could hold thousands.

An article in Esquire Magazine based on Gilley’s led to the film and the ensuing country dance club phenomenon in the 1980s.

Lee performed in the film, and Gilley made a cameo.

“I’ve been in the music industry for more than 50 years now, and it never gets old,” Gilley, 79, said in a statement. “I look forward to the areas we’ll be visiting during the tour, and celebrating the ‘Urban Cowboy’ anniversary.

“I’m truly honored by the continued support of fans over the years.”

Gilley celebrated another milestone in April when the Academy of Country Music gave him its Triple Crown Award recognizing artists who have won ACM awards in these three categories - new artist (1974), vocalist (1976) and entertainer of the year (1976).

“Receiving the ACM Trip Crown Award is truly an honor of a lifetime,” Gilley said then.

He also is meeting with producers for a television show in development on Fox that will update “Urban Cowboy” for today’s times with a set resembling the famous club under construction near Austin, according to sfgate.com.

In June, CMT aired a two-hour documentary, “Urban Cowboy: The Rise and Fall of Gilley’s,” and Texas Monthly featured a cover story on Gilley’s and “Urban Cowboy.”

“[The film] launched me and Johnny [Lee] into the stratosphere. It was an unbelievable time in my life. I got to tour the world, and it was a great time to be in the music business,” Gilley told the Abilene Reporter-News.

Gilley went on to score 39 Top 10 singles and 17 No. 1 singles including “Window Up Above,” “City Lights” and “Don’t the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time.”

Lee also became a star and scored such hits as “You Could’ve Heard a Heart Break” and “One in a Million.”

Gilley’s Nightclub closed in the late 1980s and a fire later destroyed the building.

He eventually opened his own theater in Branson, Mo. This will be his last season there after 25 years.

He also has Gilley’s clubs in Dallas, Las Vegas, Reno, Nev., Durant, Okla., and Pocola, Ark.

Gilley grew up in Ferriday, La., along with two other famous cousins - rock star Jerry Lee Lewis and televangelist Jimmy Swaggart.

He learned piano at an early age, moved to Houston work in construction and began performing there in the late 1950s.

He eventually settled in Pasadena and became one of the city’s most popular acts.

Gilley returned to touring in 2014 after an accident in 2009 left him paralyzed from the neck down.

While helping a friend move, a sofa landed on him and crushed four vertebrae. Years of physical therapy allowed him to walk, sing and perform again although he cannot play the piano or button his shirt.

“I have always loved performing and I know nothing else,” Gilley said in a statement in March 2014. “The outpouring of love and concern from the fans, my fellow artist friends and the music community has kept me fighting to walk back on that stage, so I am glad that time is finally here.”

John Goodspeed is a freelance writer. Email him at john@johngoodspeed.com.